Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about an issue of great concern to many of my constituents, and I say this with complete conviction, because I have stood at the front doors of residents of Cowan on more occasions than I can remember. They have presented me with their views about being dissatisfied with the administration of justice in the court system. Let me be clear about this: there is an expectation from the people that crime and antisocial behaviour will be properly dealt with.

There are three parts to any justice system. They are: the enforcement of the laws by the police, the administration of the laws by the courts and the creating of the laws by parliament. I will start by speaking about the police. I can say that every decent Australian has support and the highest regard for the police. I know that the police will always execute the laws to the best of their ability.

In Cowan we are well served by the teams at Wanneroo Police Station under Senior Sergeant Matt Ray, at Ballajura Police Station under Acting Senior Sergeant Narelle Woods and at Warwick Police Station under Senior Sergeant Craig Wanstall. They always do their part and the people of Cowan greatly appreciate their work. I commend them for the proactive work they do under very difficult circumstances. I would also like to note my appreciation for the assistance that Senior Sergeant Craig Wanstall and Senior Constable Ray Lee of Warwick Police provided in Girrawheen last week when we went around local shops and spoke with Vietnamese people in relation to crimes against them.

I do not hear people complain about the police, but I do hear complaints in regard to the courts. The view of many of my constituents is that the penalties do not match the crime. The view of the vast majority of the constituents of Cowan is that they want criminals and other offenders to be held accountable for their crimes and their antisocial behaviour. Recently there was the reported case of Constable Mathew Butcher, a young police officer in the WA Police, being left partially paralysed and brain damaged after he was head-butted from behind. Constable Butcher was attending a fight outside a tavern in Joondalup when a man named Barry MacLeod ran at him from behind and leapt into the air in order to head-butt the police officer from behind. The sickening attack has been widely reported and was filmed on a mobile telephone. What is incredible is that Barry MacLeod was acquitted in the District Court. He offered the excuse that he was worried about his father, who shortly after this incident had a heart attack, but later recovered in hospital. The people in Perth were not impressed and remain very angry about this failure by the courts to hold Barry MacLeod responsible for his actions. I should say that Barry MacLeod’s dad was no innocent bystander in this fight. Obviously, he has always set a pathetic and low standard for his sons, reinforced on that occasion by his own full participation in the fight.

It is a harsh reality that some people in our society are just plain bad. They have no regard for others, they have no regard for the police and no regard for the law. The MacLeods are such people and they should have been dealt with appropriately by the courts. Instead justice was not served and I call it a disgrace and, in fact, a travesty of justice. I believe that the courts should represent the expectations of society and I know that many of my constituents share this belief. I wonder whether this can be achieved when magistrates and judges, who are akin to gods in their courtrooms and who are influenced by their backgrounds, mostly on the defence side in criminal matters, see the accused appear before them in a suit—maybe for the first time—shaved, sober and briefed by their lawyer. The person who appears before the magistrate or judge in these sorts of bodily harm cases is a far cry from the aggressive, drug or alcohol affected dangerous person that confronted police months earlier.

When acquittals and soft sentences occur it is little wonder that most people do not believe that justice is dispensed by the courts. It is for that reason that governments have to step in and impose simpler laws in these cases. Simpler laws that clearly prescribe penalties—unequivocal penalties—for such attacks on police will send a clear message about what society wants and requires its judicial officers to dispense. It requires judicial officers to dispense the right penalties. I therefore look forward to the new government in Western Australia taking steps to implement simpler but tougher laws that ensure the penalties that are dispensed meet the expectations of our community.

I have met with the police minister, Rob Johnson, and I wish him and the Attorney-General, Christian Porter, every success in getting better laws through the WA parliament. I look forward to laws that will send a clear message about dealing with those who attack police. I also look forward to tougher search and seizure laws to deal with graffiti vandals and for the seizure and crushing of hoon vehicles.

Finally, I would like to express my support for the police officers who protect our community well and also my gratitude to officers who are injured, like Constable Matt Butcher, and to those other officers who make the ultimate sacrifice for our community. The police need support and they need protection. The good people of Western Australia believe it is about time that the courts dispensed real justice.